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8 Gaps
in Western Evangelicalism
Thus says the Lord, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is,
and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls." But they said, "We will not walk in it.”
Jeremiah 6:16
After spending countless hours over twenty-five years with church leaders, ministry leaders, and people from vastly different denominations, we continually found people struggling with the same issues. The denominational perspective on Christianity did not produce any better life than another denominational perspective.
We found bigger issues in play. These issues begin further upstream than denominations. We discovered the source of these issues was Western Evangelicalism itself. To be quite clear and sure, for many years Western Evangelicalism has been used by God to change lives everywhere! Nevertheless, the WE perspective on Christianity has drifted too far from too many core Kingdom principles.
The following are the top eight issues, gaps, that we find in Western Christianity that keep many faithful people from experiencing the abundant LIFE of Jesus. Trexo’s response to these gaps is OVERFLOW. OVERFLOW is a counter way of walking with Jesus in which one person at a time can enjoy the promised abundant LIFE.
GAP 1
Relational Trinitarianism
Many Christians are not trained to live in healthy relationships with each of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Yet, we were all created by a Trinitarian God to thrive in LIFE because of intimacy with the Trinitarian God.
THE SOLUTION
Trinitarian Intimacy
(1 Thessalonians 1:1-10)
GAP 2
Love
Evangelicalism believes man’s greatest need is knowledge. Churches, ministries, and seminaries teach. Trexo rejects that premise. Man’s greatest need is love. And in love we teach, train, journey, and share.
THE SOLUTION
Overflow (1 John 4:7-21)
Trinitarian Intimacy
(1 Thessalonians 1:1-10)
Love Stack (Luke 14:25-26)
GAP 3
Kingdom of God
Jesus’s mission was to preach the Kingdom of God. However, most evangelical Christians have no idea what the Kingdom of God is, let alone how to be motivated by it.
THE SOLUTION
Ephesians 1 Diagram
(Luke 4:43, Ephesians 1:18-2:10)
GAP 4
Spiritual Warfare
Jesus told us that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy His abundant LIFE for us. Brothers and sisters bleeding out in pain or trapped in the superficial prison of the tortured middle, but we rarely talk about Satan.
THE SOLUTION
Demonic Widows
(John 10:10, 1 Timothy 5:15)
GAP 5
Pressure
Many Christians live under as much pressure as non-Christians? Church and ministry life often provide glorified, performance-based Christianity. Where is grace?
THE SOLUTION
Organics (Psalm 23:1, John 15:5)
Overflow (1 John 4:7-21)
Grace Mountain (Ephesians 2:10)
GAP 6
Emotional Processing
We feel as much, if not more than, we think. And we feel powerfully and deeply. Jesus did, too. Yet, we are left woefully ill-equipped to process our emotions as Jesus did.
THE SOLUTION
The Feels (Matthew 26:36-46)
GAP 7
Effective disciple-making
Modern methods of disciple-making do not work. They do not work because they are not built on effective recipes for resting in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And they do not work because they are not built on love. Jesus’s disciple-making was love based, customized, and personal.
THE SOLUTION
BE, GO, MAKE
(John 13:34-35, Matthew 28:18-20)
GAP 8
Ministry Building
Mission drift is a real, destructive phenomenon. However, most leaders are not trained in establishing clear, simple paths to specific, powerful transformational targets and then training leaders accordingly. Kingdom churches and ministries need clear paths, transformational targets, robust theology, and enjoyable celebrations!
THE SOLUTION
Milk and Honey
(Genesis 12:1-3, Exodus 3:17)
Schedule time with a Trexo Team Member to learn more about how we can help you, your church, or your ministry run God’s race in the OVERFLOW of His love.